Three is the Magic Number
by LovelettersFib
Summary: Three drabbles on three pairings: Yuffie and Vincent, Yuffie and Reno, and Yuffie and Kadaj.
1. Into His Thoughts

**Into His Thoughts**

**Characters/Pairings: **Yuffie and Vincent

**Rating:** T, at most

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters in the game and etc. "I'm So Sick" is a song written by Flyleaf. I took the chorus parts out.

**Notes:** This first drabble (yes, drabble) is about Yuffie and Vincent. The next one will be about Yuffie and Reno. The one after that will be about Yuffie and Kadaj. Yes, the other two pairings are quite different, but it's worth a shot, eh?

_I will break into your thoughts,_

"Vinny-poo."

_With what's written on my heart._

Vincent turned around to the sound of her voice. There she stood, still short and clumsy. Her dark brown hair cropped. Her eyes still a soft dark shade of brown-almost black.

They were so different. He was tall, quiet. His crimson eyes were cold, but there was still a trace of warmth in them. She was loud, and willing to speak her thoughts. He was silent, only saying what he had to when it was required.

_I will break. Break._

"Yuffie."

_I'm so sick, infected with where I live,_

She grinned. At least he noticed.

"Don't tell me you're still sleeping in that scary coffin of yours. Haven't you ever slept on a bed before? It's comfortable."

_Let me live without this empty bliss, selfishness. I'm so sick. I'm so sick._

He didn't reply. Yuffie didn't mind if they were on the roof of his home. She had just come for a visit. Nibelheim was a very creepy place. Her Conformer was strapped to her back.

Yuffie approached him. She didn't expect him to answer. He never really did, unless he had to. She sat down beside him, not too close, but not too much of a distance between them.

_If you want more of this,_

He was distant. Sometimes cold. Had he always been this way? He didn't know for sure. After Lucrecia, he didn't really know. He did what she wanted him to do. He left. But it wasn't what he wanted to do.

Now, he was afraid. He was afraid to open up. He was afraid if he did, she would hurt him, too. Yuffie would hurt him. She would leave him.

He was afraid of hurting her. Afraid that the demons in his head would finally escape. Afraid that they would hurt her. He was afraid that he would lose her to them. He was afraid that he would lose himself, give in, and lose his friends.

_We can push out, sell out, die out._

"Are you fine here? Aren't you lonely, sometimes? I would be. Not talking to anyone for a day…"

_So you'll shut up!_

He didn't answer.

His battles were internal. The war was in his head. He had to fight them off, or let them free. He didn't want them to win.

_And stay sleeping._

"I like cookies."

Okay, so that wasn't the smartest thing to say.

Vincent gazed at her. His eyes showed a small bit of amusement. Didn't the corner of his mouth twist a millimeter upwards? Whatever that was, it vanished and his mouth was a grim line again. Yuffie grinned. Illusion or not, she _had_ made him smile.

_With my screaming in your itching ears._

"I know you're not into talking a lot, but I just wanted you to know… You can tell me anything, Vince. I promise, I won't laugh."

"…Yuffie…"

"Eh?"

"…Thank you."

"For what?"

"…For staying here with me."

"Aw, Vinny-poo. You can't thank me for that. I wanted to visit you."

"…"

"Geez. I wonder how many words you spoke in your whole entire lifetime. Probably under a 1,000. I'm sure I said at least a billion words."

_Hear it! I'm screaming it!_

Vincent looked at her. He felt a pang in his heart. It was like he was gazing at something he wanted, but couldn't have. It was like he was a dirt-poor child, looking at the display of a candy store, yearning for the sweets. He didn't know when this feeling started yelling at him from inside, but he knew it was there. It had been there for a while, haunting him.

_You're heeding to it now._

"Can I sit closer to you?"

Another stupid question.

Yuffie couldn't control it. She had to say what she wanted to say.

Vincent gave her a small nod.

Yuffie just smiled and drew closer to him, but there was still a bit of distance between them. There was still a gap between the two individuals.

But this was probably the closest Yuffie at been to Vincent. It was so difficult to reach out to him.

_Hear it! I'm screaming it!_

Vincent was lost in his thoughts. Half of him was listening, watching Yuffie. The other half was at war with the monsters inside of his mind.

Yuffie wanted to know what Vincent was thinking more than anything else. Even more than materia, which she loved a lot.

_You tremble at this sound._

"Can I braid your hair?"

That was the most ridiculous questions she had asked him-she knew it.

Vincent gave her a funny look, then he nodded.

Yay! She finally got to touch his hair! Vincent's silky, shiny-looking hair. She always wanted to ruffle it, or braid it, or pat his head. But he might get mad at her and avoid her for the next month or two. So she just didn't.

_You sink into my clothes._

The moonlight caressed his pale face. She moved closer to Vincent on her knees, even though it hurt. The roof wasn't too steep for her. After all, she _was_ Yuffie Kisagari—the ninja extraordinaire.

She slowly, cautiously pulled off the red band around his head. Taking a few strands of soft hair with her fingers, she began to twist them together.

The demons had been whispering, screaming, scratching inside his head, but all of a sudden, they stopped. It was quiet inside his mind. He could hear his own thoughts.

_This invasion makes me feel worthless, hopeless, sick._

He turned to her, focusing on her face, on her eyes.

"Yuffie…"

Yuffie's hands hung in mid-air. She looked at him, her eyes full of questions. For a moment, she felt like she could dive into his mind—plunge into his thoughts. She felt his sadness, his confusion, his struggle, his lust, and his fear.

"Vinc---"

With one quick motion, he gently cupped her face with his hands and pulled her close, pressing his lips to her forehead.

Miraculously, he could listen to his own thoughts. He could hear his own thoughts whispering.

"_I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you. But please know that I love you, all the same."_

Yuffie could hear his whisper.


	2. You were only human

**Characters: **Yuffie and Lucrecia (except she's not exactly in a state where she can talk…)

**Summary:** Yuffie confronts the sleeping Lucrecia in her cave.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Bleach, I would be a lot happier, but since I don't…

**Rating: **K+ to T, you decide.

**Note: **This is just a short, extra chapter for "Three is the Magic Number".

The cave wasn't dark. In fact, the wondrous light spilling from the sparkly barrier Lucrecia was encased in illuminated it. She was beautiful, Yuffie admitted. But even so, she had no right to do that to Vincent. Today was the day Yuffie, the ninja extraordinaire, would confront Lucrecia, whether she was listening or not.

It was like she was a priceless artifact put up for display. Her hands were gently laid over her chest, as if she was protecting her heart. Lucrecia looked like an angel.

But Yuffie couldn't forgive her.

Yuffie drew closer to the angelic form. Lucrecia was truly a diamond in the rough.

"I don't care if you're not listening, Lucrecia. But please try to hear me out."

Yuffie took in a sharp breath and continued.

"I can't forgive or forget what you did to Vincent."

Yuffie was too solemn to call Vincent by a pet name. She was too damn serious.

"You killed him inside. He's alive. He's alive and well, but all he ever thinks about is you. Even after you abandoned him and left with Hojo. He thinks he did this to you. He won't forgive himself, no matter what the others or I tell him."

She took another breath and snagged a short pause.

"He hates himself because of you. It's not his fault. It's yours. You played with his emotions. You yourself had mixed feelings about him. And you decided to play around. Of all people, you chose Vincent!"

She screamed. She hated it. She hated what Lucrecia did to Vincent.

"And then you left him. He was one of those people. Those people who would do anything for the one they love. And he left, even if it hurt him like hell. It changed him forever."

Yuffie glared at the statue-still figure, trapped in a diamond-like cage.

"You know what hurts me off the most?"

Lucrecia was silent.

"Vincent won't ever love me. Maybe not anyone else. Because he can't forget you."

Yuffie took in a deep breath. And for the next few seconds, she screamed inside the cave. Her scream mingling with anger, bitterness, and jealousy.

Yuffie didn't see it. She didn't see the tears slowly forming behind Lucrecia's eyelids. Yuffie didn't see the crystalline drop rolling down Lucrecia's cheek.

But Yuffie cried, too.

She turned on her heels, ready to leave the cave.

She looked back at Lucrecia. And Yuffie bowed her head.

"But still. You were only human."

With that, the ninja left Lucrecia's domain.


End file.
